Earth's Mightiest Babysitters
by Amourwolf
Summary: Earth's Mightiest Heroes can't handle Merida alone. (Fluff. So much. FLUFF) Rated for some discussion of PTSD


Natasha followed his gaze. The door was cracked just enough to let light in from the hallway. Tony was outside their door, speaking in hushed tones to Merida. She shook her head, red curls flying everywhere; her blue eyes were huge and Tony's resolve almost broke at that pouting face. "Hey now, listen, your mom will kick my butt all the way to Antarctica if I don't bring you back."  
"No!" The little girl said and crossed her arms stubbornly. "I don't wanna go to sleep."  
Tony smiled warmly. "But if you don't sleep, then you won't be up in time to help Uncle Bruce and me in the lab."  
Merida pondered this for a moment. "Okay." She whispered. Tony shifted her in his arms. "Attagirl." He pushed the door open all the way. "Everyone decent?" He called loudly.  
Natasha moved to take Merida from him. "WAIT!" She shouted. Natasha blinked. "Uncle Tony didn't give me a goodnight kiss."  
Tony rolled his eyes. "Silly me." He bent down and kissed the top of her head. "Goodnight Princess." Natasha smiled and took Merida into her arms. She nudged the girl. "What do you say?"  
"Goodnight Uncle Tony."  
Clint snickered quietly as Natasha left to put Merida to bed. "Didn't know you could be so adorable, Stark."  
"What do you want a goodnight kiss too, Barton?"  
He snorted at that. "And risk enraging the woman I love? Not a chance."  
"Face it, you can't resist my charm." Tony quipped.  
"You think too highly of yourself." Clint said. They lapsed into silence. Then, quietly, Clint spoke up. "Thank you—for the way you've been treating Merida. It's not easy for us—we're hardly qualified to be raising a child."  
Tony watched as his shoulder sagged slightly. He reached out and placed a hand on one. "Hey, you guys spent your careers taking lives from this world. Now it's time to give one back." His voice was soft. Clint didn't respond, his eyes were unfocused and looking beyond the room, but Tony saw his brow crease. "Barton. Hey, Barton. Earth to Barton!" He shook his shoulder. "Clint!"

That got a response out of him. "I'm sorry."  
"You okay?" Tony looked at his teammate with worry.  
"Just bad memories." Clint was getting that far away look again, so Tony spoke up. "I can't go near water." He blurted out.  
Clint raised an eyebrow. "What?"  
"It takes me back. To the cave. To Afghanistan." Tony tapped his temple with a finger. "Usually takes a few days for me to be able to sleep again."  
"I'm sorry." Clint repeated. Tony shrugged. "Don't be. The point of this little heart to heart is that we all have demons, Clint." He patted the archer's shoulder once and began walking to the door. Tony stopped and glanced over his shoulder. "But we don't have to fight them alone."  
Clint nodded. "Goodnight."  
Tony, falling back into his old self, grinned and mock saluted with two fingers. "Nighty night, Legolas. Tell your smoking hot wife that the lab doors open bright and early and if she brings the little princess then, there will be shiny new weapons involved."  
Clint huffed and while it was a far cry from an actual laugh, Tony saw it as a good sign. "Goodnight Tony."

"WOW!" Merida's bright eyes took in the lab. Natasha smiled softly at her as the little girl's grip tightened on her hand. "Wow indeed." Bruce glanced up from his work and swept the holoscreen away. "You two are here early." He said.  
"Stark…" Natasha stopped midsentence when Merida looked up at her. "I mean, Uncle Tony promised me 'shiny new weapons' if I brought her early."  
"I never said the weapons were for you." Tony called, joining the group. He had his arms behind his back. Merida shifted to the left, trying to peek around him. "Ah-ah-ah! No peeking." He chastised with a smile. Merida giggled.  
"Okay, first question. What's your dad's codename?"  
"Easy! Hawk—eye!"  
"Okay. And what is your dad?"  
"He's an arrrcchherr."  
"And what do archers use?" Came Clint's voice from behind the two resident scientists.  
"Daddy!" She let go of Natasha's hand and ran to him. Clint picked her up with one arm. Merida squinted at him. He too was hiding something behind his back. "I want you to close your eyes and on the count of three, I want you to open them."  
She nodded and did as she was told. "One," Bruce said.  
"Two," Tony called.  
"Three!" Natasha exclaimed, earning her strange looks from both Bruce and Tony. They weren't aware she could do excited.  
Merida opened her eyes and gasped. A bow was in Clint's other hand and while it was made out of metal, Tony and Bruce had taken great care to design it to look like wood. "Is that for me?"  
Clint nodded. "When you were very small, your mother caught you playing with my bow." Merida grinned shyly as he said this. Clint leaned in closer. "The arrows told me that you haven't stopped playing with it." She swatted at his nose. "Daddy! Arrows don't talk!" Clint laughed and dodged it easily. "They do. And you know what they told me?" Natasha grinned and rolled her eyes at this. Merida shook her head. "They said for me to get you your own bow."  
"But what good is a bow without arrows?" Tony asked, stepping forward and presenting a quiver of blunt tipped arrows to Merida.  
"Do you like them?" Bruce asked. Merida grinned and shook her head, causing her hair to bounce. She looked up at her father. "Thank you Daddy."  
"I'm not the one who made them." He said, glancing at Tony and Bruce.  
"Thank you Uncle Bruce! Uncle Tony!" Natasha's gauntlet began to glow and Clint's earpiece chirped. "And that's Fury." He sighed. "Be a good girl and don't break too much." Clint set Merida down and sped out the lab. Natasha bent down and kissed her forehead. "Have fun."  
Bruce waved as the lab doors swooshed shut. "So, wanna go test this puppy out?" Tony asked.  
Merida's brow furrowed. "I thought it was a bow?" Tony and Bruce laughed.

Coulson sighed loudly as three arrows pinned his suit to the lab door. "Giving the daughter of two assassins a deadly weapon, what could possibly go wrong?"  
"Hi Phil." Tony said eagerly. "You here for Merida?"  
The agent nodded. "Fury wants you two to get some actual work done."  
Tony looked like he wanted to dispute that and raised a finger. "Helping Merida destroy the lab in the name of SCIENCE is not considered work." He put the finger down. Merida set the bow on a nearby stool and ran to retrieve her arrows. "Hello Uncle Coulson."  
He couldn't help but smile at her. "It's Phil, Merida."  
"Okay," She pulled the arrows out of the door, allowing Phil to move.

Fury mock glared with his good eye. "Now where did she go?" He asked in a most serious tone. Merida giggled and tried her hardest to smother her laughter. Fury paced around the desk.  
"Sir?" Maria called. "What Agent Hill?" Fury snapped. "Can't you see I'm in the middle of something?"  
"Thor has arrived on Earth." Fury made a shooing motion with his hand, his eye fixed on the desk. "Send Captain America to greet him."  
"But sir-"  
"Agent Hill, as you can see, I am preoccupied at the moment." He ended the call and continued 'searching' for Merida.

Phil shrugged at Maria's baffled expression. "He takes this whole 'Uncle' thing pretty seriously."  
"He won't greet an Avenger because he's too busy babysitting the assassin baby?"  
"If Clint hears you calling her that, you won't wake up tomorrow."  
"What about Widow?" Maria asked. "I'm more worried about her."  
"Then we'd be at your funeral right now."


End file.
